Log in

No. 14 BYU forces 4 turnovers and beats Arizona 41-19 for its best start to a season since 2020

Posted 10/12/24

Jake Retzlaff passed for 218 yards and two touchdowns and No. 14 BYU forced four turnovers in a 41-19 win over Arizona on Saturday. Darius Lassiter led the Cougars with 86 yards on five catches. BYU …

You must be a member to read this story.

Join our family of readers for as little as $5 per month and support local, unbiased journalism.


Already have an account? Log in to continue.

Current print subscribers can create a free account by clicking here

Otherwise, follow the link below to join.

To Our Valued Readers –

Visitors to our website will be limited to five stories per month unless they opt to subscribe. The five stories do not include our exclusive content written by our journalists.

For $6.99, less than 20 cents a day, digital subscribers will receive unlimited access to YourValley.net, including exclusive content from our newsroom and access to our Daily Independent e-edition.

Our commitment to balanced, fair reporting and local coverage provides insight and perspective not found anywhere else.

Your financial commitment will help to preserve the kind of honest journalism produced by our reporters and editors. We trust you agree that independent journalism is an essential component of our democracy. Please click here to subscribe.

Sincerely,
Charlene Bisson, Publisher, Independent Newsmedia

Please log in to continue

Log in
I am anchor

No. 14 BYU forces 4 turnovers and beats Arizona 41-19 for its best start to a season since 2020

Posted

PROVO, Utah (AP) — Jake Retzlaff passed for 218 yards and two touchdowns and No. 14 BYU forced four turnovers in a 41-19 win over Arizona on Saturday.

Darius Lassiter had 86 yards on five catches and Parker Kingston caught a touchdown pass and threw for a score on a trick play for BYU. The Cougars (6-0, 3-0 Big 12) are off to their best start since 2020.

Noah Fifita threw for 275 yards and a touchdown to lead Arizona. But, he tossed three interceptions and lost a fumble. Tetairoa McMillan had 78 yards on five catches for the Wildcats.

Arizona (3-3, 1-2 Big 12) has lost four straight games in the series with BYU.

Arizona turned the ball over twice in its first three plays of the second half.

BYU's Jakob Robinson batted the ball to himself and came down with an interception, setting up a 9-yard touchdown catch by Chase Roberts. Then Harrison Taggart recovered a fumble when Isaiah Glasker stripped Fifita on a sack. That led to a 33-yard field goal by Will Ferrin and extended BYU’s lead to 24-7 less than two minutes into the third.

LJ Martin scored on a 1-yard run and Glasker scored on a 21-yard interception return in the fourth quarter to seal it for the Cougars.

For the second consecutive week, Arizona got a fourth down stop on its opponent’s opening drive. After Retzlaff threw away a fourth down pass at the Arizona 5, the Wildcats drove 95 yards for a score. McMillan’s wide-open 39-yard catch in the flat set up a 14-yard scoring grab by Montana Lemonious-Craig that made it 7-0.

Another fourth down gamble paid off for BYU on its second drive. Martin took a pitch and raced 15 yards on fourth down to get the Cougars in the red zone. Kingston scored on a 20-yard catch one play later to even the score at 7.

BYU took a 14-7 lead midway through the second quarter when Kingston threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to Martin. Tanner Wall set the scoring drive in motion when he intercepted a pass from Fifita at the BYU 1.

THE TAKEAWAY

Arizona: After a strong opening drive, the Wildcats slowly unraveled on offense. Arizona struggled to finish drives and coughed up turnovers deep in its own territory, letting a chance at another road upset over an AP Top 25 opponent slip away.

BYU: An opportunistic defense switched momentum in the Cougars favor after the first quarter. BYU scored 24 points on four takeaways to break open a close game. The Cougars have intercepted 10 passes through six games and had at least three takeaways in a game for the third time this season.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

BYU could move up in the AP Top 25 poll after another dominant home win.

UP NEXT

Arizona: Hosts Colorado on Saturday.

BYU: Hosts Oklahoma State on Friday.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football